If Mike Scioscia did nothing more for local sports than hold his annual youth baseball clinic — this year's edition, the fourth, was Saturday at Conejo Creek Ballpark — he'd be making a nice contribution to his adopted hometown.

But the Angels manager and his friends who formed the Amateur Baseball Development Group are doing more, much more, and they both deserve credit and greater attention for the effort.

Let's start with the clinic, because it's just a nice grassroots part of supporting amateur baseball, the mission of Scioscia, Randy Riley and Kevin Muno when they formed the organization in 2004.

The clinic, which also featured Angels players Jered Weaver of Simi Valley, Mike Napoli and Darren O'Day, along with coach Dino Ebel and broadcasters Rory Markas and Jose Mota, has grown to become a regional event, not just a local one. Scioscia spent his time before the clinic posing for pictures with youth teams from all over the county, and Angels fans from L.A. and Orange counties make the trek as well, in ever-increasing numbers.

"Last year, we had about 1,400 kids," said Scioscia. "This year, we're expecting close to 2,000. It's a lot of work, but the whole community supports this. We just give them the stage, let the community come out, meet a player, get some tips about baseball, get some autographs. It's fun."

It has a larger purpose than that, though. Not only is the clinic meant to get young players excited about the game, but it gives Scioscia a chance to remind parents and coaches to keep those young players' experience positive.

"Make the atmosphere something these kids are going to cherish the rest of their lives," he said. " There's one reason for playing baseball at this age it's to build the self-esteem of children. That's why we're here."

But to understand how ABDG's work goes beyond the clinic, you need only look at the setting for Saturday's event. Conejo Creek Ballpark is a gem of a facility that keeps getting better, a collegiate-quality facility adopted by the organization and enhanced with about $250,000 in improvements.

"We're not done yet," said Scioscia, "but we've finished the dugouts, the stands, the scorebooth. The scoreboard's in now. We've got some other things that are coming together. This field will be used almost nonstop for the next four months. It's been a great project, fun to be a part of."

Developing a field wasn't what the group originally envisioned; as Riley — the non-profit group's vice president and treasurer notes — the original idea was for Scioscia to host a golf tournament, and use the money raised for grants to support high school baseball programs.

That work continues; ABDG has given out close to $200,000 in grants to about 30 high schools so far. Nine of those high schools are local, but they're also as far afield as Redlands and Anaheim, and the contributions have been significant to a number of inner-city Los Angeles schools.

But when the opportunity to adopt the field came along, the organization jumped at it, because it fit so well with support of the sport.

"This field became a piece of our puzzle," said Riley. "And with this field came the responsibility of getting players on the field. It just happens that this field is a big enough field for the age groups from 15 to college where you see a lot of drop-off, where kids can't continue to play."

And so ABDG sponsors three leagues at the site: senior minor, for players cut from their high school teams who want to continue to play; senior major, a summer league for high school freshman and JV players; and Big League, a summer league for ages 16-18 that produced the Big League World Series champions in 2006. It also supports teams in three other summer programs.

It's quite a change from what Muno, Riley and Scioscia encountered when their sons — all now playing college baseball — were younger.

"We really thought there was a need for a facility out here where kids could play," said Muno, ABDG's president. "We were constantly jumping fences trying to find a park where we could hang out and practice."

It's not that way now, and they're far from finished. They hope to add batting cages to the ballpark soon; someday, they'd like to add lights, so there'd be even more opportunity for young players to take advantage of the facility.

"It's still kind of a work in progress," says Muno, "but we feel like it's something the community can be proud of. Kids can come that are serious about playing baseball, and they have someplace first class to practice."

The young players at Saturday's clinic might not appreciate the significance of the field they were on, but someday, they might. And given the broad reach of ABDG's work, they may well benefit from the organization even if they never play on Conejo Creek field.

"Thanks to Mike and thanks to Randy, I think we're making a difference," said Muno. "And I think Mike's excited with the direction our organization is going."

He, and all the people who support the group, shouldn't just be excited. They should be proud.

— Contact Star columnist David Lassen at dlassen@VenturaCountyStar.com.